Can I Stay
by mem0rycafe
Summary: It really started in the winter when Draco showed up at her house. She showed him compassion and they both found something in the other they didn't know was there.
1. Chapter 1

Long time no story. This is a one shot. I wrote it as a chapter to a sotry, but screw that, right?

I disclaim. Story is JK Rowlings and lyrics are Ray Lamontagne's.

Can I Stay?

Can I stay here with you through the nighttime?

I've fallen sad inside and I need a place to hide

Can I stay, here with you, through the nighttime?

I'm all alone and blue, won't you take me to your room?

Lay with me in your thinnest dress

Fill my heart with each carress

Between your blissful kisses, whisper

Darling, is this love?

She had come to him, clothes soaked through, hair wild and unkept, and tears running down her face. She could not come up for the words to answer his questions. Silently he led her to a chair and silently he left her as he went to make tea. She sat there, still as stone, hands wringing with worry.

He saw across from her, setting a tray down on the table between them. She took her tea cup and stared at it intently, breathing deeply.

"Talk to me."

She took a deep breath and looked him in the eyes. "Harry is dead. Ron is dead. Hermione might die."

"What abo-"

"Voldermort is dead." she interrupted him. "Ron died first, protecting Hermione. He jumped in front of a blast of fire that had been sent to her. Hermione got struck by a hex right after, they don't know what is wrong with her yet. And Harry, he died exactly when Voldermort did."

"And the Death Eaters?"

"You tell me." she replied looking down on his arm. "You're still alive."

He settled back in his chair with a sigh. "It doesn't seem right. When you become a death eater you become an extension of him."

"Maybe not all of them do." she told him thoughtfully. "I mean, if all of you were an extension of him, then every time one of you were killed so would part of him be. Maybe just his inner circle is, but he wants everyone to believe it to keep them in line."

"We believe he's a part of us, so that we are scared to turn our backs on him?"

"Maybe. Didn't work though."

After that they silently sipped their teas. She looked off into the fire, while he causally looked at her.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her finally, as she set down her cup of tea.

"Can you imagine what it's like at my home right now?" She asked him. "Can you imagine how many questions I would have to answer? How much everyone is crying? My crying is more then enough for me to handle."

"But, why here?"

"You came to me when you had no where else to go." she replied with a shrug. "You promised to return the favor if I ever needed it."

"Well, in that case, come on."

"What?"

"Your clothes are soaked, your hair's a mess. You need a warm bath, clean clothes, and sleep."

She nodded, "Thank you."

She perched on the edge of the large claw footed tub, a terry cloth bathrobe wrapped around her. The lavender aroma from the bubble bath she had poured in the water was drifting up to her nose. She gently ran her hand in the water, testing the temperature. Finally she shut off the water and slid into the bath, dropping her robe on the ground.

She closed her eyes, trying to relax and instantly she replayed the image of Ron dying in her head, and then Harry. Her eyes sprung open as she sat up in the tub. Despite the warm bath she started shaking and for the second time that night, tears started streaming down her face. She sat in the tub, far after the bubbles left, waiting for the tears to stop.

She let the water out of the tub and rewrapped the robe around her. She softly padded out of the bathroom and into the living room.

"Good bath?"

She nodded, "Pajamas?"

"I don't really have anything for a girl to sleep in."

"Do you maybe have a long shirt?" she asked. "Anything just to cover up, basically."

"Yeah, I have one or a ton of those." he told her, "Come on, I'll let you pick it out."

"It really doesn't matter to me." she told him, as she followed him to his room.

"Either way, you've had a horrid night, you get to wear what you want."

She stood in front of a closet filled with shirts for her to choose from. All of them different colors and different textures. She quickly chose a soft black one and thanked him as she made her way back to the bathroom. She quickly changed into the long shirt, buttoning it top to bottom.

"Do you think you could show me my room?" she asked him after she had emerged from the bathroom.

"Yeah, of course. It's right across the hall from my room, in case you need me for some reason during the night." he told her. "There's an extra blanket in the chest at the foot of the bed, in case you get cold."

"I hear it's suppose to be cold tonight." she told him with a nod. "Thanks, again."

"Don't worry about it." He said walking back towards the door. "You going to be all right?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. Probably not. Goodnight."

"I'm just across the hall if you need me."

She laid in the bed, staring up at the ceiling, in the dark. Scared to close her eyes, scared to let her sub conscience invade her mind in her sleep. She could hear the tick tick of the grandfather clock in the hallway as the seconds passed by. Sleep was not closing in, and if she just lay there for another minute listening to seconds pass by she would go crazy.

She slid out of bed and crossed the bedroom to the door way. She softly opened the door, trying to be quiet as she went. Softly she knocked on his door, not wanting to wake him up, but if he were awake wanting his company.

The door opened after a couple of seconds, "Are you ok?"

"I'm scared to sleep." she told him. "I can't close my eyes without seeing it all happen again."

"Come on." he said opening his door for her.

"Did I wake you?" she asked him as she gently sat on the edge of his bed.

"No, not at all. I was reading."

"Good book?"

"No, actually. But I have to know how it ends."

"Oh."

"You know, you don't have to sit on the edge of my bed like that. I won't bite."

"It's not that, I just-"

"It's ok." He told her, holding up the covers for her.

She crawled under the covers, "Will you do me a favor?"

"Sure, what?"

"Just talk to me until I fall asleep."

"I can do that."

"Oh and one more thing."

"What?"

"Thank you Draco."

"Ginny, it's my pleasure."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Wow, it's been awhile. Well here is part 2 of a one shot? Yeah, I know. It doesn't make much sense. But I hope you enjoy, read & review. The lyrics is another Ray Lamontagne song. Check him out, he is amazing. And as usual everything J.K. Rowling wants to claim as being in her Harry Potter world she can. And this doesn't follow the last book and probably doesn't follow book 6.

You Can Bring Me Flowers

My eyes are dry my hands are tied  
There's nothing I can say  
If you feel the need to go  
I won't stand in your way

Sit and think drown and drink  
Sing this sad sad song  
You can bring me flowers baby  
When I'm dead and gone

She stood at the edge of the crowd. The wind was whipping her hair in her face and tangling her dress in her legs. The black dress made her pale skin a brighter white than normal and it made her freckles pop. She shivered slightly as the chill wound around her and she knew there was nothing that would make her feel warm today.

She peered across the crowd and saw her parents at the front. Her mother had a handkerchief balled in her fist, her other hand gripping her husband's arm. Her father looked solemn and even from here she could see the tears that filled his eyes. Standing behind her parents were her brothers, minus Ron and her stomach flipped at the thought of his absence.

She finally started to weave through the crowd, pushing when it was necessary because she had lost all patience to be nice. When she reached her family she squeezed between Fred and George, taking their hands in hers for comfort. She felt other hands touch her back and she knew it was the rest of her brothers needing to feel a sibling unity.

Regardless, Ginny knew that they would never be fully unified again without Ron by their side. She peered out at the crowd with dead eyes as she forced herself to remain calm. Her mother was going to crack at any minute and with the matriarch of the family in hysterics she knew her brothers would slowly crack also. She had to be the strong one for them. She had taken the past 72 hours to grieve in private and now she would be strong for her family.

Her eyes roved over the crowd as words were spoken about Harry Potter. No longer the boy who lived, but the boy who gave his life for the wizarding community. She gasped quietly as her eyes stopped on a tall blonde boy leaning against a tree on the edge of the group of people. He caught her stare with his eyes and held her gaze.

Ginny shrunk under the gaze until she turned her attention back to her parents who were clutching each other in their grief. Harry had always been like a son to him and burying two sons was too much for any parent to handle.

Finally Harry was lowered into the grave next to where his best friend Ron had been laid to rest, and people started to slowly turn away from the sad affair. Quietly her brothers turned away from her as their wives and girl friends came to comfort them. Ginny was left standing as a single unit as each person in her family turned to the arms of their significant others for the comfort they so desperately needed.

One by one her siblings calmed down and said their quiet goodbyes before slipping away from the graves. Her parents were last the last to say goodbye to Ginny before making her promise to come by the house later and walking up the hill to the apparition point.

It wasn't until her family had left that Ginny allowed herself to sink onto the ground besides the graves and she felt the first hot tears slide down her face in silent misery. Her fingers pressed against the dirt that had been neatly magicked over the coffin as she huddled to the earth.

She heard him approach before she saw him and she glanced at the black shoes that had come up beside her. She didn't get up from the ground to meet him. Instead he, in a very uncharacteristic move for him, gently sat on the ground beside Ginny.

He didn't say anything but Ginny could feel his eyes on her. He did, however, reach over and gently place a hand on her back and after a couple of seconds of hesitation he started to rub her back. When she had calmed down he pulled her from her crouching position onto the ground beside him.

He turned her face to look at him and gently wiped the tears from her cheeks and under her eyes. He held her face in his hands for a few seconds, inspecting her face before dropping his hands to his lap.

"Come on, you need to eat." Draco said standing up and offering her his hand.

She took his hand and allowed him to pull her into a standing position and she dusted herself off as she straightened her dress. "I'm not hungry."

"You've lost weight in the last few days," he replied as he led her away from the grave yard. "And you were too skinny to begin with."

"Where are we going?" Ginny asked him as they reached the apparition point.

"My place," Draco replied before they appeared on his door step. He pointed his wand at the door. The door opened on its own and he led Ginny into the house and right by the living room she had sat in just days before.

Instead, today she was brought into the kitchen. The kitchen was painted a cool grey with bright white cabinets and darker grey marble counter tops. There was an island with bar stools on the outside edge for people to sit while a meal was cooked. To the left was a large table with a vase of fresh flowers sitting in the middle. The wall beside the table was just glass windows and the sunlight streaming in made the room naturally bright.

Ginny sat down on one of the stools and rested her chin in her hands as she leaned against the island. She watched Draco as he moved around the island and started rummaging around in his fridge before loading up the island with stuff.

"Do you even know how to cook?" Ginny asked him finally, eyeing the food sitting on the counter wearily.

"Yes," Draco told her before he started pulling out pots and pans. After a few minutes of chopping, and dicing and prepping, Draco had stuff boiling and bubbling on the stove. He leaned against the island across from Ginny instead of sitting down.

"So how are you?" Draco asked her quietly.

Ginny shrugged, "Numb." She looked up and met his eyes, "Why were you at the funeral?"

"Your brother and Harry helped to save everyone's life, I owe them respect."

"Oh," Ginny replied quietly with a small nod.

Draco reached over and took one of her hands in his, "And I thought perhaps there would be someone there who needed me."

Ginny looked down again but nodded her head like she understood. They stayed that way for a while, Draco holding her hand across the island while watching her and Ginny with her head bowed sitting on the stool.

Finally Draco pulled away and turned back to his cooking. He drained the pasta before dumping it into the sauce that had been simmering on the stove top. He tossed the sauce and pasta together before loading up two plates with it and setting one in front of Ginny and one at the edge of the counter. He pulled the stool over to allow them both some room to eat and sat down.

For a couple of minutes they were both quiet as they ate the pasta, finally though Draco broke the silence, "You Weasley's are all alike."

Ginny looked up at him, "How so?"

"Food always makes you guys feel better," Draco said shaking his head with a smirk.

"Good food," Ginny said with a smile. "I really didn't expect you to be able to cook."

"I'm glad I could surprise you." Draco replied honestly.

"You do," Ginny said with a small smile before turning back to her food.

They ate the rest of their food in silence and when Draco finished he started on the dishes. Ginny joined him by the sink and she would dry the dishes as he finished washing them.

When the last dish had been washed and dried Ginny turned to look at Draco. "Thank you," she told him, although two simple words could never convey how she really felt. She checked her watch and sighed, "I have to get to the Burrow."

"Owl me if you need me," Draco told her. "I've got a few more surprises up my sleeve."

Ginny nodded, "Yeah ok." She turned to leave but hesitated before turning back around and throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him with every emotion in her body. He hugged her back, bringing her to her toes. She pressed her lips against his quickly before slipping out of his embrace and fleeing his house.

When she arrived at the Burrow she looked more flustered than upset and she avoided the looks of her brothers as she walked by them to greet all their family that had arrived and Hermione who, although a little worse for the wear, had finally been released from St. Mungos.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N For not doing anything for about a year and a half, I am on a roll. My muse has been biting lately and I'm burning off steam as I try to figure out what to right in my original story. I hope you enjoy, read and review.

Disclaimer: I don't claim any of J.K. Rowling's stuff.

I Could Hold You In My Arms

When you came to me with your bad dreams and your fears  
It was easy to see you'd been crying  
Seems like everywhere you turn catastrophe it reigns  
But who really profits from the dying  
I could hold you in my arms  
I could hold you forever  
I could hold you in my arms  
I could hold you forever

So now we see how it is  
This fist begets the spear  
Weapons of war  
Symptoms of madness  
Don't let your eyes refuse to see  
Don't let your ears refuse to hear  
Or you ain't never going to shake this sense of sadness  
I could hold you in my arms  
I could hold on forever  
And I could hold you in my arms  
I could hold on forever

It had been called the coldest day of the year. Snow was falling at an alarming speed and the wind whipped it around so fast that all anyone could see was snow. Ginny had started a fire in her fireplace and sat in front of it, wrapped in a blanket with a mug of hot chocolate beside her and a good book to read. She had spent most of the day this way as everything she normally did was impossible to do with the blizzard going on full force.

She was actually startled when she heard a knock on her door and she wondered briefly who was crazy enough to be out in this weather. She carefully set her hot chocolate on the floor against the wall and her book beside it before wrapping the blanket more tightly around her and standing up. She peered out the window to see who it was but it did no good.

She cracked her door open and pure shock is what had her just let the door fall open. Draco Malfoy was standing on her doorstep, his lips nearly blue from the cold. Snow covered him from nearly head to toe and he was shivering more than he could probably help.

Although her first instinct was to inquire why he was standing on her doorway, the look on his face and the state he was in kept her mouth closed and had her move aside so he could come in. Ginny closed the door after him, shutting out the cold and followed him as he made his way into her living room.

He perched on the edge of her couch, as if trying to not get it wet but too exhausted to keep standing. His head was in his hands and he looked so broken that Ginny couldn't bother to snap at him like she wanted to.

"You need to get out of those clothes," Ginny finally said quietly. "I'll go see if I can find something of Ron's for you to borrow, and a towel."

She left him in her living room as she made her way to her guest room. She was praying that she actually had something for him to wear. If he stayed in those clothes he would die of the cold and she didn't need him naked in her apartment. She managed to find a pair of red and gold plaid pajama pants and a white tank top that he could wear. As she made her way back to the living room, she grabbed a towel from the linen closet and put it on top of the clothes.

When she returned to the living room she found that Draco had moved so that he was crouching in front of the fire place. "Here," she said putting them on the couch. "Can I get you something to drink?"

Draco looked at the hot chocolate that was cooling in the mug, "Hot chocolate would be great." He said it quietly and his voice was empty of emotion.

Ginny picked up her mug and took it into the kitchen with her. She took her time in the kitchen so that he would have time to dry off and change. When she returned to the living room, Draco was sitting on the ground in front of the fireplace, the blanket over his lap.

Ginny handed him his mug before sitting down carefully beside him and pulling the other side of the blanket over her lap. She gave him a few minutes to enjoy his hot chocolate before she bombarded him with the questions running through her mind. Subtlety had never been her strong point.

"Why are you here?" she finally asked.

"I don't know," Draco said shaking his head. He looked at her and his eyes showed how lost he was. "I needed a safe haven."

"And I was it? We aren't even friends. Some would say we are enemies."

"I'm not your enemy," Draco replied quietly with a small shake of his head. He looked at her and she could tell he was trying to decide something. "Can you cast a privacy charm?"

Ginny did as he asked and a after a minute they were surrounded by a bubble of shimmery light.

"I'm the most hated man throughout the wizarding world," Draco started quietly, as if he didn't trust the privacy charm. "There isn't a day that goes by where someone doesn't curse my name. No one I want to trust me does and the only people that do would kill me if it would help them get ahead. I'm surrounded by the worst of the worst on a daily basis and I'm forced to torture and kill for the sake of the greater good."

"But it's not the greater good," Ginny said quietly.

"It is," Draco replied. "I'm double agent, I have to be a vile person every day so that we have a link to the inside. I'm the closest person to Voldermort who isn't on his side." Draco took a deep breath and if Ginny didn't know better should have thought he had tears in his eyes. "I came to Harry and I groveled forgiveness for my past deeds. I wanted out. I wanted to do the right thing and he only pushed me further towards the Dark Lord because we needed an inside link."

He took a deep shudder breath and this time Ginny was sure that the water glistening on his cheek wasn't her imagination. She wanted to reach out and wipe away the tear but she kept her hands to herself, she wanted him to continue the story.

"I'm breaking in two and I'm constantly fighting against myself. He is starting to break down the walls in my mind and I can tell he is close to seeing through me. I'm going to just be another casualty in this war and no one will know any the better that I am not a bastard."

"Get out of it," Ginny said quietly as she finally reached up and wiped the tear that was falling down his cheek away. "Harry asked more of you than he would anyone else. You've paid your debts."

"I can't."

"Why not?" Ginny asked.

"Because if I don't do it, no one else will." Draco replied looking at her, his eyes pleading for her to understand. "Even if it means that I have to do everything I'm fighting against."

"Why did you come here?" Ginny asked him gently.

"Do you remember in your fifth year when we had detention together?"

"We had to write papers about our true selves and whether we were owning up to who we really are," Ginny said with a nod. "I remember reading your paper even."

"I think my gift in life is compassion. Deep down I have the need to take care of everyone. I do not want anyone to hurt. I do not want anyone to feel useless. It is a constant struggle to be the person I know I am when I have to deal with people I do not necessarily like, but I know that no matter what each person deserves to know that they are worthy of a life." Draco quoted from memory her paper.

"You remembered that?" Ginny asked him quietly.

Draco nodded, "Always in the back of my mind, I remembered that and I swore if I ever needed to, I would see if your compassion would be there for even me."

"You still look cold," Ginny said after a minute of quiet as she inspected his arms that were covered in goose bumps.

"I haven't been truly warm in a long time," he replied. "There comes a point where you do so many evil deeds that you just turn empty and cold and there is no warmth for you. The cold invades every fiber of your being. Your dreams are no longer your own but belong to the demons that posses your soul. I can't sleep all I do is dream of all the things I've done wrong."

Ginny stood up from the floor and offered her hand to Draco. He looked at it hesitantly before standing up and taking her hand. She led him to her bedroom, closing the door after they entered and turning off the light.

"Climb in," she told him softly.

From the light coming from her bathroom she could see him look at her questioningly. "You are still far too cold and I've got the only electric blanket. I'm just being practical."

Draco climbed under the covers in her bed and sunk against the pillows. Ginny crawled in beside him and rolled over so that she was facing him.

"How do you fill someone up who appears to be so empty?" Ginny asked him quietly.

"You show them how to feel again."

Ginny leaned forward and kissed him gently on the lips before resting her head against his chest, her arms wrapped around him as best as she could. It took him a minute before Ginny could feel his muscles loosen from the tense way in which he held himself and when he did his arms around her tightened as his chest started to shake with silent sobs.

Ginny didn't really know what to say or what to do so she just stayed there and offered him comfort in the form of a warm body that could give him compassion. After a while he calmed down and she could feel him running his fingers through his hair. She let down her walls and snuggled in closer to him and it occurred to her that he had actually warmed up.

"Ginny," Draco whispered quietly.

"Hm?"

"I think you saved me tonight," Draco replied. He kissed her gently on the head as he rolled towards her and pulled her against him. He wrapped himself around her while resting his face against her head, breathing in her scent that he found to be comforting. Finally he closed his eyes and he drifted off to sleep with himself wrapped around her and her wrapped in him.


	4. Chapter 4

More lyrics from Ray Lamontagne, not that anyone is shocked.

Narrow Escape

Well their love it was long

It was gentle and strong

And for a while she forgot his sins

And she kissed him for love

She kissed him for luck

She kissed him one time for a kid

It seemed they were only drawn together during times of intense turmoil for one of them. Although initially each person had approached the other person first, Draco had changed that when he had showed up at the funeral. Ginny knew it was her turn to show up. She knew it from the moment she read the paper that morning and it made her nervous as hell.

She hadn't seen him for a few months but she could still recall, how in a moment of insanity she had kissed him before practically running away to the burrow. Her friend at the ministry kept her updated as to the status and finally word came that he was released.

She wrapped her cloak around her tightly before setting out in the cold as she walked to the closest appiration point. She was standing at his door, a place she had only visited when she was broken, and this time she was there to heal.

She knocked at the door and waited. It was finally opened by Draco who looked thoroughly beat down. "You came," he said quietly.

Ginny didn't reply as she wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him. Draco didn't just hug her back, he clung to her and she could feel his body betraying him as to how wore out and beat down he was. Finally Ginny pulled away from him, "Tell me what happened."

Draco nodded as he led her to the couch in her living room that she hadn't sat on since she had come to him dripping wet with rain and tears. He sat on one end of the couch, cross legged so he could face her as she pulled her legs against her, her arms clasped around them.

"I don't understand how that bastard survived," Draco said quietly. "He was supposed to be dead. He showed up last night, after I had gone to bed. I woke up and I could tell something was off and then all of a sudden he was at my neck with a knife."

Draco looked up at Ginny, with unwept tears in his eyes and she knew he had waited for her before he had let himself break down, "Oh, God, Ginny. I killed my father. I killed the bastard and I'm ecstatically glad for it and I grieve for him at the same time."

Ginny closed the space between them as the first tear made its way down Draco's porcelain cheek. She had no words to say to make it alright because she had no clue what to say. Instead she took his face gently in her hands and lifted it so she could look into his face. Gently she kissed him on the cheek and she could taste the salty tear that hung there.

Draco wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him so that her body was flush with his. She kissed his other cheek, kissing away another tear as she did. Draco ran his hands up her back and over her shoulders as he brought his hands down her arms and over her hands. He met her eyes with his and Ginny wanted to melt in them and all the pain and sorrow they held.

He raised his head to match hers and she kissed him gently on the lips as she sunk into him. She could feel his need through his kiss as he kissed her back harder. Draco pulled her against him as he lay back and straightened himself along the length of the couch. She stretched her body against his, relaxing against him as she did.

All the while they continued to kiss as Draco tunneled all his sorrow into passion. One hand was wrapped around her hair while the other slid down to rest in the curve of her back.

Ginny was acutely aware of the fact that she hadn't been in this sort of position with a man in years and while her head screamed at her that this would eternally ruin the weird friendship she had with Draco, there were other parts that overrode her mind. She was, after all, straddling Draco's waist which left little to her imagination.

Instead she sighed against his mouth when his hand found its way under her shirt and started rubbing her back, pausing each time it hit the strap of her bra. Draco's need to focus on anything besides the reality of the day was feeding a need she hadn't realized she was abusing until just then, her need to feel alive.

Ginny reciprocated his touch by sliding her hands under his shirt. He felt exactly how she pictured he would, cool and firm and she found that she couldn't stand not seeing him. She pulled at the hem of his shirt and he let her pull it over his head. She ran his hands over the many muscles that graced his stomach and abs before he pulled her back to his lips.

Once again Ginny was overcome by the rush of need in his kiss and didn't notice as he started to pull off her shirt. She shivered at his touch as his hands trailed down her sides and stopped at the hem of her skirt. Not wanting to be out done, Ginny pulled at the button to his pants before unzipping his fly.

It was then that Draco gathered her in his arms and stood up. Ginny had the good sense to wrap her legs around him so she wouldn't fall. And as he walked to what she assumed was his bedroom he let his pants fall where they may.

When he dropped her on his bed, he pulled off her skirt before crawling on the bed so he was balanced over her. His lips found hers again as they both ignored their last reservations and let the other heal the emotion wounds they had been holding on to.

It wasn't until later, when Ginny was curled against his side, her head on his shoulder that he spoke again.

"Ginny, I think I love you," he whispered into the darkness.

She nodded her head against his should because she knew exactly what he meant.

A/N As of right now this is the end. I don't know where else I could take it that would give it a better sense of closure than the last two lines in this story.

If you have read this please Review and let me know what you think. I would GREATLY appreciate it.

And check out my other stories!


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